Sonata for Bassoon

David Maslanka loves a melody and he’s not afraid to declare it in his Sonata for Bassoon, a work he penned for Bergen Wind Quintet bassoonist Per Hannevold. Deeply inspired by the “speaking quality” of the Bach Chorales, Maslanka finds that such Old World constructions “have always provoked a large musical fantasy in me.” Here the bassoon conveys a gamut of emotion—solemn at the outset, yet wildly celebratory by the closing measures. Indeed the entire ensemble is whipped into such a state of frenzy, I suspect that only the restraint required for the pianist to deliver the delicate solo closing note of the piece is all that prevents them from falling right off the stage.

—MS